SYD passport scanner - "Please activate Windows"...

[greenfish]

Went through Sydney self service passport control yesterday and was amused to notice (in fine print) a message requiring Windows activation on the display on the passport reader...

Surely the Federal Government isn't pirating Microsoft software

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

IT fail!

 

[greenfish]

IT fail!

Clearly when they'd finished the Passport scanners they moved straight across to work on the Census site...

 

[Boca68]

Hope its not Vista, or else we're going to die.

[video=youtube;OGylKM-Mkws]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGylKM-Mkws[/video]

 

[wandering_fred]

Somebody didn't turn off automatic updates...

This may be more unhappy wandering

Fred

 

[JohnPhelan]

The Census IT team is freelancing for DIBP now........

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

On departure in SYD last week I noticed half of them were out of service. How hard is it to keep the computers running?

 

[Lord_Lenny]

It was like that in July as well, when Lady Lenny and I holidayed a couple of the flight information displays were proudly displaying a windows error message in addition to the windows activation message at passport control.

Interesting little detail to note

 

[harvyk]

On departure in SYD last week I noticed half of them were out of service. How hard is it to keep the computers running?

Depends, you have a sample size of the 10 minutes you where actually in the customs hall. All large IT systems have problems, it's the nature of IT and the reason why GOOD IT people are so expensive, keeping 1 computer running = pretty easy, keeping an entire network of them running = hard.

It's a little strange that the please activate message was still been shown, however there is a variety of reasons why a machine can be unactivated without it being a licensing issue, a machine can become unactivated if a piece of hardware is swapped out, since activation actually includes serial numbers of pieces of hardware in the activation code and change out certainly pieces of hardware (eg after a hardware failure) can easily mean the machine requires reactivation. Assuming that it was because of hardware failure, there is no guarentee that a technician whom does hardware swaps actually has local administrator rights to log in and reactivate a machine, or that the machine actually has internet access to allow activation to happen. If they have automatic activation, that happens after 3 days, not immediately, and yes it does bring up messages during that 3 day period.

This is not to defend customs IT dept, we all know that they are hardly perfect, but I also think some people have unrealistic expectations of IT equipment.

 

[greenfish]

Depends, you have a sample size of the 10 minutes you where actually in the customs hall. All large IT systems have problems, it's the nature of IT and the reason why GOOD IT people are so expensive, keeping 1 computer running = pretty easy, keeping an entire network of them running = hard.

It's a little strange that the please activate message was still been shown, however there is a variety of reasons why a machine can be unactivated without it being a licensing issue, a machine can become unactivated if a piece of hardware is swapped out, since activation actually includes serial numbers of pieces of hardware in the activation code and change out certainly pieces of hardware (eg after a hardware failure) can easily mean the machine requires reactivation. Assuming that it was because of hardware failure, there is no guarentee that a technician whom does hardware swaps actually has local administrator rights to log in and reactivate a machine, or that the machine actually has internet access to allow activation to happen. If they have automatic activation, that happens after 3 days, not immediately, and yes it does bring up messages during that 3 day period.

This is not to defend customs IT dept, we all know that they are hardly perfect, but I also think some people have unrealistic expectations of IT equipment.

These are embedded Windows systems and most likely are the responsibility of the vendor of the smart gates. This is a rookie error, there should be no online activation process required for an OEM embedded Windows (as an aside, internet based activation is really only required for consumer / small business Windows systems - corporate / government would generally have volume licenses and use KMS to deliver "activated" keys").

It just looks sloppy .

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Depends, you have a sample size of the 10 minutes you where actually in the customs hall. All large IT systems have problems, it's the nature of IT and the reason why GOOD IT people are so expensive, keeping 1 computer running = pretty easy, keeping an entire network of them running = hard.

It's a little strange that the please activate message was still been shown, however there is a variety of reasons why a machine can be unactivated without it being a licensing issue, a machine can become unactivated if a piece of hardware is swapped out, since activation actually includes serial numbers of pieces of hardware in the activation code and change out certainly pieces of hardware (eg after a hardware failure) can easily mean the machine requires reactivation. Assuming that it was because of hardware failure, there is no guarentee that a technician whom does hardware swaps actually has local administrator rights to log in and reactivate a machine, or that the machine actually has internet access to allow activation to happen. If they have automatic activation, that happens after 3 days, not immediately, and yes it does bring up messages during that 3 day period.

This is not to defend customs IT dept, we all know that they are hardly perfect, but I also think some people have unrealistic expectations of IT equipment.

I am one of those expensive IT people, so I know exactly how easy it is to keep systems such as this running.

IMHO, there was nothing wrong with the technology, it was the border force people who had cordoned them off in order to assert some notion of power.

It's a machine. All of them should be functional all of the time unless maintenance is being undertaken. This would have massively reduced congestion outbound.

 

[jb747]

The Census IT team is freelancing for DIBP now........

Was there a census?

 

[wandering_fred]

Was there a census?

There was in the USA in 2010.

I wonder how many of the current crop of IT people could have built a system in the 1970s (you had to think about the resources that would be available and used).

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[harvyk]

There was in the USA in 2010.

I wonder how many of the current crop of IT people could have built a system in the 1970s (you had to think about the resources that would be available and used).

Happy wandering

Fred

Slightly OT, but the answer is more than you'd think.

The thing with IT people is those with any sort of longevity in the industry has been through several changes in the industry. In my 15 years I can think of no less than 5 major advancements in technology which have made my life easier. So to be successful in the industry a person needs to be adaptable, so take a modern day IT person, put them in front of a 40 year old system, and chances are they will adapt.

 

[wandering_fred]

Forty year old systems would likely be written in COBOL.
The interesting thing about the re-write of "my" system a few years ago (at 12) was the developers absolutely refused to include any business logic comments in the new (C#) code. Fortunately both the old and new system has run for at least 5 years without issue...

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[serfty]

Forty year old systems would likely be written in COBOL.
The interesting thing about the re-write of "my" system a few years ago (at 12) was the developers absolutely refused to include any business logic comments in the new (C#) code. Fortunately both the old and new system has run for at least 5 years without issue...

Happy wandering

Fred

... or perhaps FORTRAN ...

.... many ... many changes since I wrote my first pieces of code as a student in 1996 and professionally in 2000.

 

[wandering_fred]

My first business system was written in FORTRAN in 1969... A couple of efforts in COBOL at a bank in the mid 1970s
I was still writing database embedded FORTRAN in 1991...

Gee I didn't think I was that old :shock:

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[harvyk]

Forty year old systems would likely be written in COBOL.
The interesting thing about the re-write of "my" system a few years ago (at 12) was the developers absolutely refused to include any business logic comments in the new (C#) code. Fortunately both the old and new system has run for at least 5 years without issue...

Happy wandering

Fred

Was the code data driven or hard coded business logic?
I could understand them not wanting to include business logic comments in data driven code, but if it was hard coded business logic I would have thought code comments go without saying.
Then again well commented code is a bit of a rarity these days.

 

[JohnK]

Slightly OT, but the answer is more than you'd think.

The thing with IT people is those with any sort of longevity in the industry has been through several changes in the industry. In my 15 years I can think of no less than 5 major advancements in technology which have made my life easier. So to be successful in the industry a person needs to be adaptable, so take a modern day IT person, put them in front of a 40 year old system, and chances are they will adapt.

I am one of the ones who missed the boat.

I have been in IT 30+ years on System/38s and then AS400s or iSeries as they became known later. Refuse to work with java or anything related to internet. Another 4-5 years should just about see me through.

Am I any good? Don't know but think I have done ok.